July 2014 New Releases…Get Your TBR List Ready!

We are in the heart of the summer and there are many new releases in July to get excited about. The number of debuts novels is also pretty impressive this month. These first five, I was fortunate to receive as ARCs. The other twenty-four have piqued my curiosity and I know there are many, but one thing I’ve learned working at the library is: request, request, request! Especially for debut authors and books that don’t get as much hype. Help build up your public library by requesting up and comings and diverse books (James Patterson gets plenty of shelf space). They truly want you to. And if you think this is a long list, just wait for the fall, especially September! 🙂

One Plus One(July 1) by Jojo Moyes It’s Moyes and “she’s written another contemporary opposites-attract love story that reads like a modern-day Two for the Road.”

The Black Hour (July 8) by Lori Rader-Day“For Chicago sociology professor Amelia Emmet, violence was a research topic–until a student she’d never met shot her. He also shot himself. Now he’s dead and she’s back on campus, trying to keep up with her class schedule, a growing problem with painkillers, and a question she can’t let go: Why?

Landline(July 8) by Rainbow Rowell “Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now. Maybe that was always besides the point.”

A Man Called Ove (July 15) by Fredrik Backman“In this bestselling and delightfully quirky debut novel from Sweden, a grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.”

Lucky Us(July 29) by Amy Bloom “Filled with gorgeous writing, memorable characters, and surprising events, Lucky Us is a thrilling and resonant novel about success and failure, good luck and bad, the creation of a family, and the pleasures and inevitable perils of family life.”

Here are more lovely new July releases that seem to be “buzzing” around the book scene (click on each cover for a full synopsis). Also, note (in bold) the number of debut novels…serious talent brewing, dear readers!

The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing (July 1) by Mira Jacob “Spanning India in the 70s to New Mexico in the 80s to Seattle in the 90s, The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing is a winning, irreverent debut novel about a family wrestling with its future and its past.”

Friendship (July 1) by Emily Gould This debut novel “traces the evolution of a friendship with humor and wry sympathy. Gould examines the relationship between two women who want to help each other but sometimes can’t help themselves; who want to make good decisions but sometimes fall prey to their own worst impulses; whose generous intentions are sometimes overwhelmed by petty concerns.”

How To Tell Toledo From The Night Sky (July 1) by Lydia Netzer “The award-winning author of Shine Shine Shine, weaves a mind-bending, heart-shattering love story that asks, ‘Can true love exist if it’s been planned from birth?'”

Dollbaby (July 3) by Laura Lane McNeal This debut novel “brings to life the charm and unrest of 1960s New Orleans through the eyes of a young girl learning to understand race for the first time. By turns uplifting and funny, poignant and full of verve, Dollbaby is a novel readers will take to their hearts.”

Dry Bones In The Valley (July 7) by Tom Bouman This debut mystery/thriller “immerses readers in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, a region in the grip of change. In these derelict woods full of whitetail deer and history, the hunt is on.”

Alias Hook (July 8) by Lisa Jensen is a fairy tale retelling for adults. New character “Stella Parrish, a forbidden grown woman, dreams her way to the Neverland in defiance of Pan’s rules. With Stella’s knowledge of folk and fairy tales, she might be Hook’s last chance for redemption and release if they can break his curse before Pan and his warrior boys hunt her down and drag Hook back to their neverending game.”

California (July 8) by Edan Lepucki is a ” gripping and provocative debut novel by a stunning new talent. California imagines a frighteningly realistic near future, in which clashes between mankind’s dark nature and irrepressible resilience force us to question how far we will go to protect the ones we love.” It’s Dystopian for adults!

My Family and Other Hazards (July 8) by June Melby is “a funny, heartwarming memoir about saying goodbye to your childhood home, in this case a quirky, one-of-a-kind, family-run miniature golf course in the woods of Wisconsin.”

The Queen of the Tearling (July 8) by Erika Johansen“The Queen of the Tearling introduces readers to a world as fully imagined and terrifying as that of The Hunger Games, with characters as vivid and intriguing as those of The Game of Thrones, and a wholly original heroine. Combining thrilling action and twisting plot turns, it is a magnificent debut from the talented Erika Johansen.” Seems like this will be a new hot YA series.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands (July 8) by Chris Bohjalian A YA dystopian novel (under 300 pages!) that is “a heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls.”

Land of Love and Drowning (July 10) by Tiphanie Yanique“Chronicling three generations of an island family from 1916 to the 1970s, Land of Love and Drowning is a novel of love and magic, set against the emergence of Saint Thomas into the modern world. It is a gorgeous, vibrant debut by an exciting, prizewinning young writer.”

The Hundred Year House (July 10) by Rebecca Makkai Historical Fiction meets Literary Fiction meets Mystery “in this brilliantly conceived, ambitious, and deeply rewarding novel.Makkai unfolds a generational saga in reverse, leading the reader back in time on a literary scavenger hunt as we seek to uncover the truth about these strange people and this mysterious house.”

Breathe, Annie, Breathe (July 15) by Miranda Kenneally will please fans of Kenneally who need to wait no longer for the next installment of the Hundred Oaks YA series (this is number five). “Breathe, Annie, Breathe is an emotional, heartfelt, and beautiful story about finding yourself after loss and learning to love.”

Life Drawing (July 15) by Robin Black“Her gorgeously written debut novel, Robin Black unfolds a fierce, honest, and moving portrait of a woman, and of a couple’s life — the betrayals and intimacies, the needs and regrets, the secrets that sustain love and the ones that threaten to destroy it.” *After writing this post, I received this ARC also, super excited!

Season To Taste (July 15) by Natalie Young is “a startling debut about the extraordinary end of a marriage and its very strange aftermath.” A woman murders and then eats her husband…just read the synopsis!

The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee (July 15) by Marja Mills is high on my list. Journalists have tried for years to get an interview with Harper “Nelle” Lee, constantly visiting her home where she lived with her sister Alice in Alabama. “But in 2001, the Lee sisters opened their door to Chicago Tribune journalist Marja Mills. It was the beginning of a long conversation—and a great friendship. In 2004, with the Lees’ blessing, Mills moved into the house next door to the sisters. She spent the next eighteen months there and was given a rare opportunity to know Nelle Harper Lee, to be part of the Lees’ life in Alabama, and to hear them reflect on their upbringing, their corner of the Deep South, how To Kill a Mockingbird affected their lives, and why Nelle Harper Lee chose to never write another novel.” SOLD!

The Spark and the Drive (July 15) by Wayne Harrison“A poignant and fiercely original debut, with moments of fast-paced suspense, Wayne Harrison’s The Spark and The Drive is the unforgettable story of a young man forced to make an impossible decision—no matter the consequences.”

Wayfaring Stranger (July 15) by James Lee Burke“A sprawling thriller drenched with atmosphere and intrigue that takes a young boy from a chance encounter with Bonnie and Clyde to the trenches of World War II and the oil fields along the Texas-Louisiana coast.”

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher (July 22) by Dana Alison Levy is “perfect for fans of The Penderwicks and James Patterson’s Middle School series. This seriously funny, modern family adventure features two dads, four adopted boys, and a variety of pets.”

Like No Other (July 24) by Una LaMarche“In the timeless tradition of West Side Story and Crossing Delancey, this thoroughly modern take on romance will inspire laughter, tears, and the belief that love can happen when and where you least expect it.”

The Home Place (July 29) by Carrie La Seur“Carrie La Seur makes her remarkable debut with The Home Place, a mesmerizing, emotionally evocative, and atmospheric literary novel in the vein of The House Girl and A Land More Kind Than Home, in which a successful lawyer is pulled back into her troubled family’s life in rural Montana in the wake of her sister’s death.”

Let’s Get Lost (July 29) by Adi Alsaid“Five strangers. Countless adventures.One epic way to get lost.”

The Good Girl (July 29) by Mary Kubica“An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller, The Good Girl is a compulsive debut that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.”

Dear Daughter (July 31) by Elizabeth Little“Ten years ago, in a trial that transfixed America, Janie was convicted of murdering her mother. Now she’s been released on a technicality she’s determined to unravel the mystery of her mother’s last words, words that send her to a tiny town in the very back of beyond. But with the whole of America’s media on her tail, convinced she’s literally got away with murder, she has to do everything she can to throw her pursuers off the scent.”